World Golf Tour

Fowler once again in major contention, six back

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HOYLAKE, England – Rickie Fowler is at a place in his career where he expects to win a major championship. The British Open is the one where he first contended.

Fowler, 25, is not surprised that he’s tied for third place after two rounds at Royal Liverpool. Sure, he’s six-shots behind Rory McIlroy, but Fowler has shot consecutive 69s and loves the way he’s playing.

“Probably the first one I came in with the intention to be here for the weekend,” Fowler said. “The Masters and the U.S. Open, those were the ones that – the goal going into the years was to be in contention at majors and have good finishes and have a chance to win them.

“So it’s fun going through the process and kind of moving forward and putting myself in positions to be around for the weekends at majors.”

Fowler and Jimmy Walker are the only two players who have finished in the top 10 in both the Masters and the U.S. Open this year. (Walker is tied for 12th place after two rounds here at the British Open.)

In windless afternoon conditions at Hoylake, Fowler was a forgotten man for much of the day. He was 2 under for the round after 11 holes but bogeyed the 12th hole and was hovering around 10th place. Late birdies at 16 and 17 moved him to 6 under par and tied for third place with Francesco Molinari, Ryan Moore, Sergio Garcia and South Africans Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen.